Blanket Forts and Sandwiches
by LaraAelric
Summary: "You've never made a blanket fort?"


**Based on the imagineyourotp prompt:**

**Imagine your OTP building a blanket fort and cuddling.**

Aubrey pushed the door open with a grunt, letting it swing inward on its own so she could pick her briefcase up and juggle it and the multitude of grocery bags into her house.

"Chloe, I'm home!" she called out as she headed immediately to the kitchen, ignoring the rest of the house in favor of relieving her hands of their (rather heavy but no she didn't need help thank you) burden. The bags went down on to the counter with a 'thud' and a hiss of relief. The briefcase went down on the chair much more carefully.

It wasn't until her coat slid off to be hung on a closet hanger that she realized she hadn't yet dealt with the daily routine of enthusiastic questions - "How was your day?" "Did you wrap up the case?" "Did you remember to buy eggs?"

Glancing around the kitchen, it was clear that for once, her girlfriend hadn't come running to welcome her home. She wouldn't question it, except for the fact that she could see the bathroom door, and it was ajar - meaning she wasn't in _there, _either.

'_She probably fell asleep again_,' she thought wryly, lips curling into a smile at the thought of the redheaded bundle of sheets on the bed. She had been greeted by the sight a number of times - particularly evenings that followed the monthly fourth-grade field trips that Chloe insisted were more beneficial than not - but no matter how many times she'd seen it, she never grew tired of it.

Smile widening, she made her way to the bedroom, but instead of being met by the sight of a sleeping girlfriend, she was brought up short by an empty bed.

Not a bed empty of people.

A bed empty of _everything_.

The blankets had been stripped from the bed, as had the pillows. Confusion set in as she noticed even the sheets were gone. They had done laundry a few days ago, so there was certainly no reason for the bed to have been stripped…

Spinning on her heel, she headed back out of the room. She immediately noticed something she had passed by previously, more intent on getting to the bedroom than looking around. Bending down, she scooped the pillow up, recognizing it as the little one Chloe insisted on keeping on the bed for 'aesthetic purposes'. (There was nothing 'aesthetic' about it; Chloe just enjoyed having a lot of things to cuddle with, and they both knew it.)

Puzzled frown deepening, she made her way through the house. She had already been in the kitchen and the bedroom, and the bathroom was out, so that left the living room…

As she was about the round the corner, a flurry of red came around the other side.

"Aubrey!" Chloe piped cheerfully - _too_ cheerfully. Aubrey immediately recognized the overly happy tone that her girlfriend adopted when she was hiding something.

Still, the sight of her always made Aubrey smile, and this was no exception. "Hey babe," she said automatically. "What are you up to?"

Chloe met her eyes for an instant, then flicked to the side before her smile brightened. "Nothing, I've been waiting for you to get home. Did you remember to buy eggs?"

Aubrey smirked. "Yes, I did."

"Oh good! I was thinking we could make some for breakfast-"

"Chloe."

"-and maybe Thursday night we can make cupcakes! It's Angie's birthday Friday, and I thought we could-"

"_Chloe_."

The redhead's chatter paused at the tone of Aubrey's voice. "Yeah, Bree?" she asked, already bringing out her 'I-didn't-do-anything' face..

"Why is our bed stripped?"

Eyes flicked to the side a second time. This time, Aubrey looked past her, eyes narrowing in thought as she considered for the first time what might be around the corner. "I thought I'd do laundry…" came the excuse a moment too late to be considered valid.

Aubrey wasn't fooled for an instant. "We did laundry the other day," she pointed out, then took a step forward to bring the living room into view. Chloe stepped closer in an automatic attempt to block, but the damage was done.

What she saw caused her to frown in confusion. Glancing down, she took in Chloe's guilty look as she asked, "Chloe, why are all of our blankets in a pile on the floor?"

"It's not a pile!" the redhead said instantly, taking on a defensive tone - was that a hint of wounded pride?

Her confusion deepened. "Well, then…why are they on the floor?" she asked again, addressing the question that had essentially still been dodged.

Chloe's cheeks were a flush of red "…I was making a blanket fort," she admitted.

Aubrey looked at her for a moment, then resumed studying the messy pile of blankets - along with sheets, pillows, and even a few of the towels from the linen closet. She squinted, cocking her head in an attempt to get 'fort' out of the mess. "A what?" she finally asked.

_That_ got a wide-eyed reaction out of the redhead. "Bree, you've never made a blanket fort?" she asked incredulously, eyes only widening further as Aubrey shook her head."Where did you read at night, when you were supposed to be in bed? Or hide, when you wanted to get away from everyone? Where did you play pretend and be an adventurer camping out in the cave with only a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to keep you alive?"

Aubrey looked at her blankly. "I was in _bed_ when I was supposed to be in bed," she said matter-of-factly. "Why would I hide? No one bothered me. And that last one is just silly. If you're hungry, all you'd need to do was go to the kitchen and make something else to eat."

"Oh- my- gosh, Bree. It's like you had no childhood," Chloe lamented, clutching at her arm in what she imagined was sympathy. Aubrey didn't bother to correct her, but it was clear she wasn't looking for a response because next thing Aubrey knew she was being dragged towards a gap in the mess. "Here, get in."

"…Chloe, I really don't see the point-"

The redhead looked at her sternly and gestured once again to the gap, which Aubrey guessed was meant to be an entrance. Knowing better than to argue, the blonde settled for rolling her eyes and grudgingly crawling in.

Rather than following her in immediately, she heard Chloe running off. The clatter that ensued pointed to her being in the kitchen, and when a red head finally poked into the dimly lit area it was accompanied by a plate of sandwiches. The smell of peanut butter was strong.

"It's going to be fun, Bree, You'll see," she was assured immediately before Chloe launched into a list of uses of a good blanket fort, accompanied by several amusing tales of childhood antics. Aubrey listened politely at first, but soon enough the tales brought a few chuckles, then honest laughter.

And as they sat there laughing and sharing the rest of the sandwiches, Aubrey supposed this was an enjoyable enough thing to do.

Though she still didn't see how this was supposed to be a cave.


End file.
